Corn planter



Ho see s ina hi Patented July 14, 1931 i 1 UNITED PATENT ebwanpWI'ITEJOF CRESCENT CITY, rumors a Conn rmrnn Application filed November6, 1 926 Serial No. 146,625,

This invention relates to corn planters, and more Particularly tomea'nsfor controlling the seed dro ping mechanism thereof. This a plieation isa'continuation of application as to the subject'matter common to bothapplications. 1 i a the oi'dinary eorn planter, seed drop pin mechanismis provided by means of ifl which a predeterminedinumber of seeds isdeposited in a furrow made by the planter and suitably covered withsoil.Mechanism is pfovided whereby the deposit of seeds is performed atregular intervals during the travel'ofthe machine; This mechanismineludes what istermed a check-rower. The check-rower usuall includesreleasing mechanism for-the see, plate which, counts out and releases acertainnumber of seeds and for the seed dropper which accomplishes thedroppingof the seeds, this releasingjmech auismvbeing operatedperiodically by a series of knots or buttons on a socalled check wirestretched alon the field and engaging a suitable manipu ative element onthe mechanism." As the a corn planter travels along the field, the knotson the Wire are drawn successively past the check-rower and 7 each knotoperateslthe mechanism to drop Astheplanter approaches the edges of thefield, a certainspace must be left to' allow for turningthe teamand theplanter. The eh eekmower is incapable of dropping seeds at the requiredregular intervals in this part of the field since, during. the turningoperation,the wire cannotlbe used to operate the same, forthe reasonthat the wire knots can- 'notbe aligned with the rows.

I One of the objects of hisinVention, therefore, is'to provide mechanismwhich will enable the planter to be used for seeding. that art of icannot be employed.

Another object of this invention is to provide mechfinism whereby theseed dropping mechanism may be operated at regular in-' tervalsindependentlyof the check-rower, j Another object islito provide suchmechas nism which maybe thrown'into and out of t U and Number22,564,1iled April 13', 1925,

he field inwhichithe checker rower operation at will, andmore-particularly to initially drop the seeds on the rows, or correctfor errors in spacing or accumulations ofsuch,

errors. i V

urther objects "will appear from the fol- 55 lowing description takenineonnection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a planview of part of a corn planter embodying this invention p i v "Figure2is a fragmentary perspective view showing the seed dropper clutch andthe means for releasing the same in accordance with this invention; andH l Figure 3 is a view takenfrom the lefthand end'of' Figure 1' andshowingthe seed 65 dropping valve p j Referring to theaccompanyingdrawings, 1 designates vthe frame ffthe'planter which isprovided withsuitable bearingsQ in which an axle 3 isadapted to turn. SuitablegroundWheels 4, only one of which is shown, support the frameand one of themturns the axle 3 during travel of the machine. The forward party of theframe is carried-upon a cross-frame consisting of a rearbar 5 and a 5front bar 6 joined by end brackets'7, only one of whichisshown. Thetongue 8 {is attached-to the bars 5 and 6. The cross-frame is carriedupon :a'pair of runners or plows 9, only one of which is shown, adaptedto open ajfu'rrow in: whichthe seeds are deposited.

The runners 9 may be adjustablyiattached to the framepby means ofbolts10 or'jother suitable fasteninggextra bolt holesill being provilded inorder: to permit lateral adjustment of the runners on the crossframesoasto pro! vi'de for acljustingfthe' spacing between the with forked levers14 adapted to engage the 1 V lmot ted check wire ea This shaft isyieldngly maintained with the levers in forwlard position, as: shown inFigurefl, by a suitable spring, not shown in the drawings.Suitmountedabove the rockshaft 13 is a seed plate shaft 15 suitablyconnected to oper ate the seed plate 12 by rotating said shaft.Itotatably mounted on the shaft 15 is a short sleeve 16 carrying asprocket 17 driven by a chain 18 from a sprocket 19 on the axle 3.Travel of the planter keeps the sleeve 16 in rotation by means of theseconnections. Fixed to the sleeve 16 is a clutch member 20 in the form ofa cup-shaped disc internally scalloped, as shown at 21. This discrotates with the sleeve. Fixed to the seed plate 15 is a hub 22, whichhas fixed thereto a stopfinger 23 and which has pivoted thereon at 230 aclutch-finger 24. The finger 24 is urged by a spring 240 on the pivotpin 230, in the direction of rotation of the disc 20, as shown by thearrow in Figure 2, being stopped in its up-right position, as shown inFigure 2, by a stop 25 on the hub 22. The finger 24 carries a roller 26adapted to engage oneof the scallops 21 when in upright position.

IVhen so engaged the hub 22 is locked to the disc 20 so as to be carriedin rotation thereby. As such 7 rotation continues under normalconditions, the finger 2 1 will engage a latch 27 mounted in properposition on the rock shaft 13 and normally in the path of the fingers 24and 23. As the finger 24: engages the latch 27, the finger is drawnbackward so as to free the roller 26 from its scallop 21, therebyreleasing the hub 22 and the shaft 15 from driving connections with thedisc 20. Further movement of the shaft 15 will bring the finger 23 intoengagement with the latch 27 so as to stop and hold the shaft 15.

It will be seen that this mechanism provides that the shaft 15 ispermitted to make only one revolution before it is stopped by the latch27. The check-rower mechanism when operated by the knotted wire operatesto rock the shaft 13 so as to move the latch 27 downwardly out ofengagement with the fingers 23 and 24, thereby releasing the finger 24which operates the clutch 20 to lock the shaft 15 to the sleeve 16. henthis is done, the shaft 151is rotated through one revolution so astooperate the seed plates to release the required number ofseeds. In themeantime the knot on the. check wire has quickly passed thefork 14,'s0that the latch 27 on the shaft 13, shifted and released by the checkwire, is permitted to resume its normal position in the path of thefingers 23 and 24 before these fingers have made a complete revolution;accordingly, the fingers again engage and are arrested by the latch soas to stop the shaft 15 after one revolution.

' Atthe rear of the plow 9 a chute 50 is provided, leading from the seedhopper 51 down to the heel of the plow. 9, which delivers the seeds tothe furrow. At the head of the chute 50 the same is closed by a valve 52pivoted at 53 on the plow and operated by a pin 5-1 on an arm 55 on therock shaft 13. The seeds dispensed by the operation of the seed plate 12are collected above the valve 52 to be dropped into the furrow when thecheckrower mechanism operates said'valve. The

valve 52 thus constitutes a seed dropper which collects and holds theseeds dispensed by the seed plate, and then drops the collected seedsinto the furrow when operated by the check row wire.

' All of the above described mechanism is well known in the art and theparticular mechanism described is that found on the well known BlackHawktype of planter.

Such a planter is usually provided with manual means for operating theseed plates. This may take the form of a foot pedal 28 pivoted at 29 onthe cross-frame and connected to a link 30 extending forwardly therefromand connected to a lever 32 on the rock shaft 13. By pushing forwardlyon the pedal 28, the link 30 is drawn backward so as to rock the shaft13, thereby drawing back the latch 27 and releasing the clutch mechanismto operate the seed plate and the seed dropper. The link 30 isordinarily made detachable from the lever 32 so that it may be thrownout of action when desired. In accordance with this invention, a cam orfinger 35 is mounted on the shaft 15; in the illustrated embodiment,this cam or finger is splined to the shaft 15 so as to be slidabletherealong. This cam is accordingly provided with a collar 56 engagedbetween a pair of fingers 57 on the end of a shifting lever 33 pivotedat 34 on the crossframe. By these means the cam 35 maybe shifted to sucha position on the shaft 15 that as said shaft rotates, the cam willengage the end of the lever 32 to rock the same rearwardly in time todraw back the latch 27 as the fingers 23 and 2a approach the same,holding the latch in withdrawn position until said fingers have passedso as to render the latch inoperative for stopping the movement of theseed shaft 15. hen the cam 35 is in position to engage the lever 32,therefore, the shaft 13 will be rocked at every revolution of the shaft15 so as to keep the latch 27 from stopping the shaft 15. During suchoperation the seed dispensing and dropping mechanisms will be operatedto drop seeds at regular intervals during the travel of the planter. Therelative sizes of the sprockets 19 and 17 may beso adjusted that theinterval between seed droppings under these conditions will be justequal to the lateral spacing between the plows 9, so that seeds may bedropped in the established rows while driving the planter cross-wisethereof.

In the operation of this'device,' the planter is driven across the fieldthrough the space above mentionedat the end of the rows which must beallowed for turningthe planter and which could not be seeded duringregular operation on account of the'inoperativeness of the check-rowerin that spaee. The planter is driven crosswise of the rows to such aposiseeds W1 i when adgiustments have been properly made,

eheck'with the see s dropped during the re'gu' lar lanting operations. HV

The automatic dropping mechanism can be readily adjusted to conform tothe spacing of the plows by the provision of a proper sprocket 19 asheretoforedescribed. Extra sets of sprockets, such as 58 and59, may beprovided for extra spacings. This adjust 4 ment can furthermore beaccomplished by adthereby Lclutching the clutch sprbcket l'flto the.shaftlfi. Since the shaft justing the spacing of the plows on account ofthe adjustable'eonnection betweenfthe lows andthe bars 5 and 6 throughthe me: iurn'of the bolts 10 and the perforations 11.

; It will be noted in this connection that the wheels 4 may also beadjustabl spaced on the shaft 3 by the provision of t e set-screws 37attaching these wheelsto the shaft 3. It will lee-understood, ofoourse,j that although only one plow and one wheel has been shown,

there are in reality two plows, The planter may as usual he providedwith a lever 38 for ad usting the number of seeds which are drop ed inahill, but'this mechanism may ,4 hero any suitable'or usualconstruction, a 33 "suitable one beingillus'trat'ed in United StatesPatent No. 918,983, granted April 20, 1909,

which illustrates partly the mechanism of the well known Black Hawkplanter.

That the machine will accomplish its ,purose will-be clear from the.following addiional description; Letusussume that the arm 32'hasbeendrawnback when the seed chute 5 0is over a row so as torock the shaft 1open the valve 53 to deposit the seeds,

previous y, measured out by the seed plate, ofirthat row; this willalso'serv'e to draw. back t e latch 27 torelea'se the fingers 23 and 24isc 20 and the now connected to the wheel shaft through the train 20,17, l8 and 19, the clutch iiisicj will itravelfwith the wheel'until thefingers 23 and :24 have made one complete i n revtluu ng 13g suitableproportioning of the its d ame tie spr cket and -Wi h spect to thediameterof the wheel ,4 andthe spacing of the plows, the fingersJ23,-24= can be made to pass through one complete revolum tionby the timethatthe seed chutearrives at the next row, At this point the cam or finer again engages the arm 32 so as to me the shaft 13 and thereby shiftthe valve 52 in order to deposit on that next row the seed accumulatedoverthe valve by rotation of the seed plate duringthat revolution of thebe dro pool in each row so as to ever, again movesthe latch 27 out ofthe path shaft 15, I Thisrocking of the shaft 13, howi of the fingers23, 24 so as to permit them to a make another revolution.

Theaction is,therefore, not like'thatt'aking l' 'j'lacetin drilling; forduring drilling the arm -1s shifted bythe pedal 28 so as to permanent-1y hold the rock shaft 13 in such a position as to holdjthejvalve openas well as hold the latchback; accordingly, the seeds are droppedthrough the chute one by one as the seed late pockets move over thechute. In accor ance with this invention, however, the valve isnot heldopen, but is opened and closed 'asthe -5 pla'nter'moves over the groundto distances betweenthe rows, while the seeds are accumulated betweendroppings. It is not ordinarily necessary to change gears whenconversion from check-row to crossrow' dropping takes place; f-orduringcheck-row dropping the-3' seeds are measured out over thevalve'between knots and dropped at the knots, while during cross-rowdropping the seeds are again 'meas-' ured out over the valve during arevolution of the cam or finger 35 and dropped at the end of eachrevolution. The cam or finger 35 canjbe shifted at any time during itsrevolution; as, however, previously described, it is shifted after thefirst hill has been dropped J and after the planter has beendriven'forbetween two rows) so that this cam will have fully passed thearm 32 especially if this arm should have returned to its forwardposition as shown in Figure 2;

It will be Seen that this invention provides mechanism whereby the endspaces a of the field which cannot be seeded by the'ordinary 9'5 ward afew feet (but lessthan the distance foe check rower can be plantedsubsequentlyto r;

the regular planting and in ro'wsfsueh as to check with the originalplanting. The Construc tion i's,.howe'ver, such that not only may 7 the"planter be converted to automatically drop seeds "in lcheck rows bydriving the I planter across the rows,'but the foot'dropper i may alsobegemployed, if desired; If the:

fieldis wide, certain errors may creep. 7

whenthe automatic drop is emp yed"; this error is, however, no greaterthan when the 1 foot: or even a hand drop is employed.

Furthermore at intervals the planter may he stopped with theseed 'chuteof the plow 1. ow an t cl h m y e a j ed to b gh'ifted it that point.This W l a care of, "anygpossible discrepancies due to in accuracyof'gearing or slippage of wheels.

l This' jdevice is also usefulin' starting the iplflntiug'bf a field befh h k wire has been staked. The planter may be driven down the field andthe first two rows planted by [the automatic mechanism controlledfby thecam .35 wh e the e k wire s b g unr e Ii hi Way v u b t m is s d by newine the r i eend a similaropsi ar has maybe performed at the end ofthefi'eld when the last two rows may be planted while the wire is beingreeled up. Furthermore in such emergencies as occasionally occur whenthe check wire is accidentally pulled loose, the remainder of therow maybe planted automatically by the operation of the cam 35 so that time issaved in stopping to restakethe wire.

lVhile the mechanism has been shown as applied to a particular type ofplanter, it is to be understood that itis not limited to such a type,but this mechanism can be applied to various types of planters in theart. It is further obvious that various changes may be made in detailsof construction without departing from the spirit of this invention; ,itis, therefore, to be understood that this invention is not to be limitedto the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: v

l. A corn planter having ground wheels, a seed plate driven from aground wheel through a clutch, a seed dropper, checkrower mechanismoperable by a check wire and connected to shift said clutch and saiddropper, and actuating means operable by a ground wheel and connected toshift said dropper at definite intervals and render said clutchoperative independently of the wire.

2. A corn planter having ground wheels, a seed plate driven from aground wheel through a clutch, a seed dropper, checkrower mechanismincluding a rock shaft having a check wire engageable fork andconstructed and arranged to shift said clutch and said dropper, anactuator driven by a ground wheel and adapted to co-operate with saidrock shaft, and means for adjusting said actuator to shift said rockshaft independently of the wire.

3. A corn planter having ground wheels, a seed plate, a shaft drivenfrom a ground wheel, a clutch on said shaft connected with said seedplate, a seed dropper, check-rower mechanism operable by a check wireand constructed and arranged to shift said clutch and said dropper, andmeans operable by said shaft and adapted to operate saidmechanismindependently of the wire.

4. A corn planter having ground wheels, a seed plate, a. shaft drivenfrom a ground wheel, a clutch on said shaft connected with said seedplate, a seed dropper, check-rower mechanism operable by a check wireand constructed and arranged to shift said clutch and said dropper, anactuator on said shaft adapted tooperate said mechanism independently ofthe wire, and means for rendering said actuator inoperative. 5. Acornplanter having ground wheels, a seed plate, a shaft driven from a groundwheel, a clutch on said shaft connected with said .seed'plate, a seeddropper, check-rower mechanism operable by a check wire and constructedand arranged to shift said clutch and said dropper, pedal meansconnected for operating said mechanism independently'of the wire, and anactuator on said shaft shiftable to operative relation with said pedalmeans to operate said mechanism at definite intervals independently ofthe wire.

6; A corn planter having ground wheels, a seed plate driven from aground wheel through a clutch, a seed dropper, check-rower mechanismoperable by a check wire and connected to shift said clutch and saiddropper, actuating means operable by a ground wheel and connected toshift said dropper at definite intervals and render said clutchoperative independently of the wire, and means for shifting saidactuating means so as to selectively render it effective andineffective. V V e 7. 'A corn planter having ground wheels, a seed platedriven from a ground wheel through a clutch, a seed dropper, check-rowermechanism operable by a check wire and connected to shift said clutchand said dropper, actuating means operable by a ground wheel andconnected to shift said dropper at definite intervals and render saidclutch operative independently of the wire, and means connected to shiftsaid dropper and render said clutch operative independently of the wireand said actuating means.

8. 'A corn planter having ground wheels, a seed plate, driven from aground wheel through a clutch, a seed dropper, a rock shaft having acheck wire-engageable fork and connected to shift said clutch and saiddropper, and actuating means operable by a ground wheel and connected toshift said rock shaft at definite intervals independently of the wire.

adapted to shift said rock shaft independently of the wire;

10. A corn planter having ground wheels,

a seed plate, a shaft driven from a ground shaft having a checkWire-engageable fork and connected to shift said clutch andsaid dropper,an actuator on said driven shaft adapted to shift said rock shaftindependently of the wire, and means connected to shift said rock shaftindependentlyof the wire and said actuator.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature this 3rd day of November,1926.

V EDWVARD WITTE.

. .105 9. A corn planter having ground wheels, a

.110 per, and an actuator on said driven shaft v wheel through a clutch,a seed dropper, a rock

